House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by the authority of the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Minister for Disability Reform, the Hon Jenny Macklin MP)

Statements of compatibility with human rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 .

Family assistance amendments and related measures - Schedules 1, 2, 3 and 6

These Schedules are compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 .

Overview of the Schedules

Schedule 1 amends the family assistance law to make payment of the family tax benefit (FTB) Part A supplement conditional on a child meeting the immunisation requirements. This will apply to the income years that the child turns one, two and five. As a consequence, maternity immunisation allowance will cease from 1 July 2012. This measure will strengthen incentives for parents to have their children immunised and improve immunisation rates.

Schedule 2 pauses the indexation of baby bonus for three years from 1 July 2012, and resets the amount of baby bonus to $5,000 per child from 1 September 2012.

Schedule 3 will cease fortnightly payments of family tax benefit on the basis of estimated income if an individual had no actual entitlement after underestimating their income for two consecutive years. Families not entitled to fortnightly instalments will still be able to make a lump sum claim at the end of the income year, and exceptions will apply to ensure that families are not put at risk of hardship.

Schedule 6 makes minor and technical amendments to the family assistance and social security law to clarify a number of provisions. The amendments do not involve any substantive changes to policy.

Human rights implications

Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), as well as Article 26 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), recognise the right of a child to benefit from social security.

The right to social security in article 9 of the ICESCR requires that a social security system be established and that a country must, within its maximum available resources, ensure access to a social security scheme that provides a minimum essential level of benefits to all individuals and families that will enable them to acquire at least essential health care, basic shelter and housing, water and sanitation, foodstuffs, and the most basic forms of education.

Article 26 of the CRC requires countries to recognise the right of the child to benefit from social security. Benefits should take into account the resources and the circumstances of the child and persons having responsibility for the maintenance of the child.

The changes in Schedule 1 will strengthen the financial incentives for parents to immunise their young children by linking the payment of the FTB Part A supplement to the child's immunisation.

Schedule 2 pauses indexation of baby bonus for three years and resets the amount of baby bonus to $5,000. In addition to baby bonus, eligible families will remain able to claim family tax benefit to help with the costs of raising their child.

Schedule 3 will cease fortnightly payments of family tax benefit to families who have zero entitlement for two consecutive years. Families not entitled to fortnightly payments will still be able to make a lump sum claim at the end of the income year, and exceptions will apply to ensure that families are not put at risk of hardship.

Conclusion

The Schedules are compatible with human rights. Australia has one of the most generous family payment systems in the world. The most recent analysis shows that spending on cash family benefits by Australia was 1.80 per cent of GDP in 2007, well above the OECD average of 1.22 per cent. These changes will make the family payment system sustainable for the long term.

Carer allowance - Schedule 4

Overview

Schedule 4 to this Bill provides for a bereavement payment for a person receiving carer allowance for the death of a disabled adult to whom they were providing daily care and attention, when they are ineligible for any other bereavement payment (under another provision of the Social Security Act 1991 , or of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 ) for the death of the disabled adult.

Human rights implications

This Schedule does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.

Conclusion

This Schedule is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.

Carer supplement - Schedule 5

Overview

This Schedule introduces a measure from the National Carer Strategy aimed at carers receiving certain income support payments working in paid employment during an instalment period that includes 1 July in a given year. The measure will allow access to carer supplement for those carers whose rate of payment is reduced to nil because of income where they or their partner worked in the fortnight covering 1 July in any given year. This will help ensure the income support system does not act as a disincentive to carers working in paid employment.

This Schedule introduces amendments to remedy this situation. The amendments apply to a carer who is not paid an instalment of carer payment or wife pension under the Social Security Act 1991 or partner service pension or carer service pension under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 because the income threshold has been exceeded in the carer's instalment period that includes 1 July. If the carer's income threshold has been exceeded because of assessed income that includes an amount of employment income, the carer can nevertheless, from 2012, receive carer supplement.

Schedule 5 also repeals a number of redundant references, contained in section 992X of the Social Security Act 1991 , as a direct result of these changes.

The change will allow greater access to the carer supplement.

None of these amendments makes any substantive change to the law.

Human rights implications

Schedule 5 engages and supports the right to social security contained in article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

This Bill supports the Carer Recognition Act 2010 which intends to increase recognition and awareness of carers and to acknowledge the valuable contribution they make to society.